Chapter 8 Flashcards
FUNDAMENTALS OF ORGANIZING
organization chart
- The reporting structure and division of labor in an organization
- The chart provides a picture of the reporting structure (who reports to whom) and the various activities that are carried out by different individual
- Two fundamental concepts around which organizations structure are differentiation and integration.
FUNDAMENTALS OF ORGANIZING
Conventional Organization Chart
- The boxes represent different work.
- The titles in the boxes show the work performed by each unit.
- Reporting and authority relationships are indicated by solid lines showing superior-subordinate connections.
- Levels of management are indicated by the number of horizontal layers in the chart. All persons or units that are at the same rank and report to the same person are on one level.
FUNDAMENTALS OF ORGANIZING
differentiation
- an aspect of the organization’s internal environment created by job specialization and the division of labor
- means that the organization is composed of many units that work on different kinds of tasks, using different skills and work methods.
- for example, differentiation is created through division of labor and job specialization.
- differentiation is high when an organization has many subunits and many kinds of specialists who think differently.
- all the specialized tasks in an organization cannot be performed completely independently.
- because the different units are part of the larger organization, some degree of cooperation must exist among them.
- is achieved through structural mechanisms that enhance collaboration and coordination.
- any job activity that links different work units performs an integrative function
FUNDAMENTALS OF ORGANIZING
division of labor
- The assignments of different tasks to different people or groups
- Means the work of the organization is subdivided into smaller tasks.
- various individuals throughout the organization perform different tasks
FUNDAMENTALS OF ORGANIZING
integration
- The degree to which differentiated work units work together and coordinate their efforts
- these differentiated units are put back together so that work is coordinated into an overall product.
FUNDAMENTALS OF ORGANIZING
specialization
- A process in which different individuals and units perform different tasks
FUNDAMENTALS OF ORGANIZING
coordination
- the procedures that link the various parts of an organization for the purpose of achieving the organization’s overall mission
THE VERTICAL STRUCTURE
Board of directors major set of duties
1) Selecting, assessing, rewarding, and perhaps replacing the CEO.
2. Determining the firm’s strategic direction and reviewing financial performance.
3. Ensuring ethical, socially responsible, and legal conduct.
- in corporations, the owners are the stockholders. But because there are numerous stockholders and the individuals generally lack timely information, few are directly involved in managing the organization.
- stockholders elect a board of directors to oversee the organization.
- The board, led by the chair, make major decisions affecting the organization, subject to corporate charter and bylaw provisions.
THE VERTICAL STRUCTURE
authority
- The legitimate right to make decisions and to tell other people what to do
- traditionally, Authority resides in position rather than in people.
- in private business enterprises, the owners have ultimate authority. In most small, simply structured companies, the owner also acts as a manager. Sometimes the owner hires another person to manage the business and its employees. The owner gives this manager some authority to oversee the operations, but the manager is accountable to – reports and defers to – the owner.
THE VERTICAL STRUCTURE
corporate governance
- The role of a corporation’s executive staff and board of directors in ensuring that the firms activities meet the goals of the firms stakeholders
THE VERTICAL STRUCTURE
hierarchy
- The authority levels of the organizational pyramid
- The CEO occupies a top position and is the senior member of the top management.
- The top managerial level also include president and vice president; they are the strategic managers in charge of the entire organization.
- The second broad level of the organization is middle-management; at this level, managers are in charge of plants or department
- the lowest level is made up of lower management and workers; it includes office managers, sales managers, supervisors, and other first-line managers as well employees who report directly to them.
THE VERTICAL STRUCTURE
span of control
- The number of subordinates who report directly to an executive or supervisor
- holding size constant, narrow spans build a tall organization that has many reporting levels; wide spans create a flat organization with fewer reporting levels; the span of control can also be too narrow or too wide.
- the optimal span of control maximizes effectiveness because it is :
1. Narrow enough to permit managers to maintain control over subordinates.
2. Not so narrow that it leads to overcontrol and an excessive number of managers who oversee a small number of subordinates. - actually, the optimal span of control depends on a number of factors; the span should be wider when:
1. The work is clearly defined and unambiguous.
2. Subordinates are highly trained and have access to information.
3. The manager is highly capable and supportive.
4. Jobs are similar and performance measures are comparable.
5. Subordinates prefer autonomy to close supervisory control. - If opposite condition exists, a narrow span of control may be more appropriate.
THE VERTICAL STRUCTURE
subunits
- subdivisions of an organization
THE VERTICAL STRUCTURE
delegation
- The assignment of new or additional responsibilities to a subordinate
- it often requires the subordinate to report back to his or her boss about how effectively assignment was carried out.
- delegation is perhaps the most fundamental feature of management because it entails getting work done through others.
- The process can occur between any two individuals in any type of structure with regard to any task.
THE VERTICAL STRUCTURE
responsibility
- the assignment of a task that an employee is supposed to carry out
- when delegating work responsibilities, the manager also should delegate to the subordinate enough authority to get the job done
- ironically, it is quite common for people to have more responsibility than authority; they must perform as well as they can through informal influence tactics instead of relying purely on authority.
THE VERTICAL STRUCTURE
accountability
- The expectation that employees will perform a job, take corrective action when necessary, and report upward on the status and quality of their performance
THE VERTICAL STRUCTURE
centralized organization
- Organization in which high-level executives make most decisions and pass them down to lower levels for implementation
- centralization may be valuable when department have different priorities or conflicting goals, which need to be mediated by top management
THE VERTICAL STRUCTURE
decentralized organization
- an organization in which lower-level managers make important decisions
THE HORIZONTAL STRUCTURE
line departments
- units that deal directly with the organization’s primary goods and services
- line managers typically have much authority and power; they have the ultimate responsibility for making major operating decisions and also are accountable for the bottom-line results of their decisions.
THE HORIZONTAL STRUCTURE
staff departments
- units that support line departments
- they include research, legal, accounting, public relations, and human resources departments.
- each of these specialized units often has its own vice President, and some are vested with a great deal of authority, as when an accounting or finance group approves and monitors budgetary activities.
- that manager seems more focused on protecting the company from risks.
THE HORIZONTAL STRUCTURE
departmentalization
- subdividing an organization into smaller subunits
- Basic approaches to departmentalization are functional, divisional, and matrix.
THE HORIZONTAL STRUCTURE
functional organization
- departmentalization around specialized activities such as production, marketing, and human resources
- is common in both large and small organizations. Large companies may organize several functional groupings, including groupings unique to their businesses.
- advantages :
1. Economies of scale can be realized. When people with similar skills are grouped, more efficient equipment can be purchased, and discounts for large purchases can be used.
2. Monitoring of the environment is more effective. Each functional group is more likely attuned to developments in its own field and therefore can adapt more readily.
3. Performance standards are better maintained. People with similar training and interests may develop a shared concern for performance in their jobs.
4. People have greater opportunity for specialized training and in-depth skill development.
5. Technical specialists are relatively free of administrative work.
6. Decision-making and lines of communication are simple and clearly understood. - disadvantages :
1. People may care more about their own function than about the company as a whole, and their attention to functional tasks may make them lose focus on overall product quality and customer satisfaction.
2. Managers develop functional expertise but do not acquire knowledge of the other areas of the business; they become specialists but not generalists.
3. If the organization becomes fragmented, it may have difficulty developing and bringing new products to market and responding quickly to customer demands and other changes.
THE HORIZONTAL STRUCTURE
divisional organization
- departmentalization that groups units around products, customers, or geographic regions
- Organizations may restructure to group all functions into a single division and duplicate the function across all of the divisions.
- product divisions :
- all functions that contribute to a given product are organized under one manager. In the product organization, managers in charge of a function for a particular product report to a product manager.
- advantages :
1. Information needs are managed more easily. Less information is required because people work closely on one product and need not worry about other products.
2. People have a full-time commitment to a particular product line. They develop a greater awareness of how their jobs fit into the broader scheme.
3. Task responsibilities are clear. When things go wrong in a functional organization, functional managers can pass the buck (“That other department is messing up, making it harder for us to do our jobs.”). In a product structure, managers are more independent and accountable because they usually have the resources they need to perform there. Also, the performances of different divisions can be compared by contrasting their profits and other measures.
4. People receive broader training. General managers develop a wide variety of skills, and they learn to be judged by results. Many top executives received crucial early experience in product structure.
- disadvantages : it is difficult to coordinate across product lines and divisions; and although managers learn to become generalists, they may not acquire the depth of functional expertise that develops in the functional structure.
- Customer and Geographic divisions :
- the primary advantage is the ability to focus on customer needs and provide faster, better service. However, duplication of activities across many customer groups and geographic areas is expensive
THE HORIZONTAL STRUCTURE
matrix organization
- an organization composed of dual reporting relationships in which some employees report to two superiors – a functional manager and a divisional manager
- Advantages :
- Linkage of employees at all levels and in all functions to the company’s goals and strategy.
- more information shared across functions.
- Communication fostered – especially valuable for complex assignments where different groups depend on each other.
- greater responsiveness to customers from bringing together information about customer needs and organizational capabilities.
- creative ideas from cross functional work.
- loyalty to the organization as a whole rather than to a function or division.
- Disadvantages :
- unclear responsibilities and competing priorities.
- violation of the unity of command principle.
- accountability difficult to define.
- accountability for results under other matrix members’.
- possible conflict and stress for employees who must manage a dual reporting role.
- additional time required for meetings and other communications to coordinate work.
- extensive collaboration needed but not always easy to reward.
THE HORIZONTAL STRUCTURE
unity-of-command principle
- A structure in which each worker reports to one boss, who in turn reports to one boss
- reporting to two superiors can create confusion and a difficult interpersonal situation unless steps are taken to prevent these problems from arising.
THE HORIZONTAL STRUCTURE
network organization
- A collection of independent, mostly single function firms that collaborate on a good or service
- describes not one organization but the web of relationships among many firms.
- network organizations are flexible arrangement among designers, suppliers, producers, distributors, and customers where each firm is able to pursue its own distinctive competence yet work effectively with other members of the network.
- often, members of the network communicate electronically and share information to be able to respond quickly to customer demand.
- in effect, the normal boundaries of the organization becomes blurred or porous as managers within the organization interact closely with network members outside it.
- The network as a whole, then, can display the technical specialization of the functional structure, responsiveness of the product structure, and the balance and flexibility of the matrix.
- very flexible network organization is the dynamic network
- Successful networks potentially offer flexibility, innovation, quick responses to threats and opportunities, and reduced costs and risks; but for these arrangements to be successful, several things must occur:
- The firm must choose the right specialty. It must be something (good or service) that the market needs and that the firm is better at providing than other firms.
- The firm must choose collaborators that also are excellent at what they do and that provide complementary strengths.
- The firm must make certain that all parties fully understand the strategic goals of the partnership.
- Each party must be able to trust all the others with strategic information and trust that each collaborator will deliver quality products even if the business grows quickly and makes heavy demands.
THE HORIZONTAL STRUCTURE
dynamic network
- temporary arrangements among partners that can be assembled and reassembled to adapt to the environment
- also called the modular or virtual corporation
- The members of the network are held together by contracts that stipulates results expected (market mechanisms) rather than by hierarchy and authority.
- such arrangements are common in the electronics, toy, and apparel industries, each of which creates and sell trendy products at a fast pace.
- dynamic networks also are suited to organizations in which much of the work can be done independently.
THE HORIZONTAL STRUCTURE
broker
- A person who assembles and coordinates participants in a network
- Broker/managers serve several important boundary roles that aid network integration and coordination:
1. Designer role : The broker serves as a network architect who envisions a set of groups or firms whose collective expertise could be focused on a particular good or service.
2. Process engineering role : The broker serves as a network co-operator to take the initiative to lay out the flow of resources and relationships and makes certain that everyone shares the same goals, standards, payments, and the like.
3. Nurturing role : The broker serves as a network developer who nurtures and enhances the network (like team building) to make certain the relationships are healthy and mutually beneficial.
ORGANIZATIONAL INTEGRATION
standardization
- establishing common routines and procedures but apply uniformly to everyone
- constrains actions and integrates various units by regulating what people do.
- people often know how to act – and how to interact – because standard operating procedures spell out what they should do.
ORGANIZATIONAL INTEGRATION
formalization
- The presence of rules and regulations governing how people in the organization interact
- simple, often written, policies regarding attendance, dress, and decorum, for example, may help eliminate a good deal of uncertainty at work.
- but an important assumption underlying both standardization and formalization is that the rules and procedures should apply to most (if not all) situations.
- these approaches, therefore, are most appropriate in situations that are relatively stable and unchanging.
- in some cases, when the work environment requires flexibility, coordination by standardization may not be very effective.